


Not Quite Make Believe

by literaryoblivion



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Future Fic, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-12
Updated: 2014-07-12
Packaged: 2018-02-08 12:24:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1940991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryoblivion/pseuds/literaryoblivion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek needs someone to accompany him to a work party. No problem. Stiles can totally do that; they're friends.</p><p>Except that person needs to be really into him and pretend to be his boyfriend.</p><p>Again, not a problem. Pretending to be into Derek won't be hard at all cause... he maybe already is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Quite Make Believe

**Author's Note:**

> This is for [Charlie's](http://obrosey.com/) birthday! (Umm it's still your birthday in California okay.) 
> 
> This fic is set in the same universe as [this fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1926234). This fic happens somewhere in the middle of that one, a week before the ending events of that fic, actually.
> 
> I don't necessarily think you have to read that fic before this one, but that's a fun one too so you should. ;)

He and Derek are friends.

Granted very close friends who hang out all the time and may or may not have seen each other in various states of undress, who sometimes, when the occasion calls for it, hold hands and cuddle.

But it’s all for a reason. The cuddling and hand holding.

Doesn’t make them a thing. Doesn’t make them more than friends.

It’s just added moments when they have to uphold their unspoken agreement.

This time, though. This time when they have to pretend that they are together for the good of each other’s sanity/safety, it feels different. It feels easy, real. Which is not good because it gives Stiles hope.

~

“What are you doing on Saturday night?” Derek asks over the phone.

“Uh, this Saturday? Probably studying and/or playing video games. Why? Want to go see a movie or something?” Stiles replies, shifting in his place on his bed.

“I would rather do that than what I have to do.”

“What’s that?”

“I have to go to this work party. I was… I was wondering if you’d come with me?”

“They have free food and booze right?”

“I would assume so, yes.”

“Then yeah! I mean I’d go anyway because you asked me, but free food is always a plus.”

“There’s… there’s something else.”

Stiles scratches his nose, waiting for Derek to answer. When he doesn’t, he says, “Yes?”

“There’s this woman in marketing who’s been coming on to me pretty hard lately, and I know she’s going to be there and she might… try something.”

“Ah.”

“So I was hoping maybe you could pretend to you know…”

“Be really into you? Got it, bud. Does she know I exist? What’s the angle we’re playing here? Long-time boyfriends? Just got together?”

Derek snorts. “Well she asked me today if I was coming alone, and that’s when I told her no and I was bringing you. But I haven’t mentioned you before so…”

“New and exciting it is. I’m good at playing by ear, you know that.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Do I gotta dress up? Like suit and tie and all that jazz?”

“Unfortunately, yes. It’s at a fancy hotel ballroom downtown.”

“I will dig it out of the closet then.”

“Okay. I’ll pick you up around seven?”

“Sounds good.”

“Oh, and Stiles, she’s… she’s definitely a supernatural creature of some kind. I don’t think she’s a werewolf, but there’s something off about her scent, so we have to be careful. Might have to… really sell it?”

“Oh. Okay. That’s fine. I can totally do that.”

“Okay. See you Saturday.”

“Bye.”

Stiles hangs up and lets out a long sigh. He can do this though. Piece of cake. Be really into Derek? That isn’t going to be hard to fake at all. Trust him.

~

“Wow, you look… good,” Derek says when Stiles opens the door, dressed and ready in his suit. It’s a little snug in the pants because he hasn’t worn them in a while, but he knows for a fact that it makes his ass look great, so he wore them anyway.

“Thanks. So do you.” Stiles eyes Derek in the doorway, and while he’s used to seeing Derek wearing a suit, it still gets him a little hot under the collar seeing the way he fills them out.

“Let me grab my keys,” Stiles says, leaving Derek in the doorway to retrieve them. He comes back, keys in hand ready to go and gestures with his hand for Derek to lead the way out.

They make small talk on the ride to the hotel. Stiles complains about his professors, his classmates, the paper he has to write. Derek tells him about this party, about the coworkers he doesn’t like, the ones he does, and this one lady, Valerie, that they have to watch out for. The one person this whole upcoming charade is going to be for.

“She’s nice when she wants something,” Derek says when describing her.

“Is she pretty?” Stiles asks because he asks the important questions.

Derek shrugs. “I guess. She’s… not really my type. And the way she stares kind of reminds me of Kate, actually.”

“Yikes. That’s not good.”

“I know. We’ve really gotta be careful. I mean I really think this will work. If she knows I’m attached, I think she’ll move on to someone else, but I really need to make sure she doesn’t come back. I don’t want to have to deal with her at work anymore.”

“Do you have to work with her at all?”

Derek shakes his head. “No. That’s the thing. She just showed up at my desk out of the blue, and then kept doing it. I think it’s because she knows I’m a werewolf. I bumped into her at the breakroom once and now she won’t leave me alone.”

Stiles places his hand on Derek’s thigh and pats his leg. “It’s okay, buddy. I got this. We will be so into each other that she’ll get sick of it and find someone else.”

Derek grins, pats Stiles’s hand on his leg, leaves it there to squeeze Stiles’s hand. “Thanks, Stiles. For doing this.”

“Not a problem. What are friends for?”

~

The ballroom is crowded. Stiles didn’t realize Derek worked for such a big company. Derek worked with such a small group of people, and only talked about those few, so Stiles assumed that it was small. There are tables around the perimeter, filled with people eating, drinking, talking. There’s a space in the middle for people to dance, and a few are taking advantage of it. The music is loud, but it’s not bad, Stiles decides. They got a pretty good DJ, who is playing a mix of songs.

He and Derek walk in with their hands clasped, which is easy enough. Hand holding is the least of Stiles’s worries for the night. Derek leans in close to his ear so Stiles can hear him over the music.

“The food’s over there,” Derek says pointing to a buffet on one side of the room.

Stiles nods. “I can grab us a seat?” he says, but Derek shakes his head no. He pulls Stiles with him to wait in line by the food.

“I don’t want us to be alone for too long,” Derek says once they’re in line.

“Man, this woman must be really scary.”

Derek looks like he believes that statement, but he doesn’t say anything else. He hands Stiles a plate, takes one for himself, and they dish out various foods on to them as they move down the line. At the end, Stiles takes Derek’s plate for him so that he can carry their drinks and follows behind him while Derek finds an empty spot at a table for them to sit.

Unfortunately, as soon as they sit down, before they even have time to butter their rolls, a woman is quickly approaching their table. And it must be Valerie because Derek’s back and shoulders tense like his hackles are raising. Stiles scoots in closer to Derek, rubs a hand along his leg under the table to calm him down, remind him that he’s close and not going anywhere.

Derek only slightly relaxes, puts an arm over the back of Stiles chair, rubbing his arm much like he’s rubbing Derek’s leg. Stiles hasn’t looked up yet, but he can tell the woman is there, waiting. He decides she can wait more, so he puts his hand on Derek’s face to turn his head, and leans in to kiss him.

Derek seems surprised at first, but he quickly kisses back, opens his mouth a little to run his tongue along Stiles’s lips. Stiles has the sudden thought that this is their first kiss and he’s elated, only to have it disappear when the next thought is it’s all for pretend. It’s nice anyway, kissing Derek, like maybe it could be real, like they were boyfriends.

Someone, Valerie, clears their throat very loudly in front of them, so they pull apart. Although Stiles gives Derek one more peck on the lips and a small smile before he pulls back. His heart is actually hammering in his chest, which he knows Derek can hear loud and clear, but he looks up at the woman with a smile, calm as can be.

“Derek, hi!”

Derek nods, civil. “Valerie.”

“I’m so glad you finally came. So who’s your friend?” she says, and her voice is just barely on the tone of nice. Stiles can tell she already hates him.

“This is my boyfriend, Stiles,” Derek says looking over at Stiles with a face that clearly conveys how much he’s in love with Stiles. Even in his periphery it’s an overwhelming look to be aimed at him. Pretend, Stiles.

“Hi. Veronica, was it?” Stiles says, holding out his hand to be polite. He knows full well her name’s not Veronica, but Stiles can be a shit when he wants (or needs) to be.

“It’s Valerie,” she says with a slight frown, shaking Stiles’s hand.

“Valerie, right. Sorry.”

Luckily, well not luckily it was probably totally on purpose on Derek’s part, the table Derek chose is full of people, Stiles and Derek taking the last two spots. The table closest to them is also crowded, and Valerie is clearly upset that she can’t find a seat near them.

“Well, I um, I guess I’ll talk to you a little later?”

“Yeah,” Derek says with a shrug. “We’ll be here for a little bit, so I’m sure we’ll bump into each other again. It was good to see you. Enjoy the rest of the party.” It’s very obviously a dismissal, and Valerie narrows her eyes and gives a firm nod before turning and storming off to the table she had originally been at.

“Damn, Derek. I actually feel a little sorry for her.”

Derek raises an eyebrow. “I don’t want to have to talk to her all night when I’m here with you.”

“Ahh, boo, you’re too sweet to me,” Stiles says, pecking Derek on the cheek. Derek shakes his head and turns to his plate.

They both eat their food, but they stay close to each other. Valerie isn’t hiding the fact that she is watching them like a hawk from three tables away, so Stiles does his best to lay it on thick. He steals food from off Derek’s plate, holds up a bite of food from his to feed Derek. He picks up a chocolate-covered strawberry for Derek to take a bite of, and then eats the rest of it himself.

“Uh, you’ve got some uh,” Derek says, staring at his lip.

“Huh?” Stiles says.

Derek shakes his head and pulls him in by the neck and licks chocolate off of his bottom lip and corner of his mouth. Stiles can’t help the moan that escapes when he does it, and Derek smirks.

“You had chocolate on your mouth,” Derek whispers.

“Did it taste good?” Stiles asks, their mouths are still so close to each other.

“Not as good as you,” Derek says before closing the distance and pressing his lips to Stiles’s.

This time, the kiss is a little deeper, a little dirtier. Stiles doesn’t want it to end in fact. He opens his mouth for Derek’s tongue and whimpers when Derek licks into it. He doesn’t know when he did it, but his hand is clenched around Derek’s lapels, like he doesn’t want him to stop (and truthfully he doesn’t.) Derek’s fingers are playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck, the other is at his hip.

He pulls back from Derek for breath, and Derek actually whines a little in protest, like he wants to keep kissing Stiles.

“You’re okay with totally making out in front of all your coworkers? Your bosses?” Stiles whispers, resting his head against Derek’s forehead.

His hand moves with Derek’s shoulder when he shrugs it. “I kind of don’t mind. Then the rest of them will stop bugging me about dating too.”

“I feel so used,” Stiles teases.

Derek chuckles, leans forward to kiss Stiles on the lips again. He sits back in his seat, leaving his one hand on Stiles’s hip.

“Want to dance?” Derek asks, tilted his head toward the dance floor.

“Sure.”

Derek stands from his seat, holding his hand out for Stiles to take, to help him up from his seat. Derek leads him by the hand through the crowd of people to a space on the dance floor. There’s more people dancing now, most people having finished eating. Stiles looks around to see if he can see Valerie, but she seems to have disappeared.

It’s a fast song, so he and Derek dance close to each other, bobbing and moving to the beat. Derek isn’t much of a dancer, Stiles knows, but he’s trying, which he’s appreciative. Derek tends to just copy whatever move Stiles is doing, and when he kind of gets dizzy or loses his balance a little Stiles laughs and does the same thing a little slower.

There’s a couple line dances, and Derek stares intently at Stiles’s feet and legs to follow along. On a few of the easier ones, ones where the song tells you what to do, Derek gets it down half-way through. The others it takes longer, sometimes him not picking it up till the song is over. Stiles tries to help, puts his hands on his hips to physically move them from side to side to match the choreography. He tries not to think about how great Derek feels, how he wishes he could touch and kiss and grab Derek like this all the time.

A little while after, a few of Derek’s other coworkers come up to say hi, and they make introductions. While they are in the midst of a conversation, Stiles whispers into Derek’s ear that he’ll be right back, and Derek nods in acknowledgment.

It takes a few minutes to locate the restrooms, but Stiles tries to make it quick. He remembers Derek not wanting to be alone for long at the beginning, and although he seemed okay when Stiles left him, he doesn’t want to take chances.

When he comes back into the ballroom, he searches out Derek in the crowd. It’s a good thing he tried to be quick because he finds Derek cornered on the edge of the dance floor, with none other than Valerie. He thinks she’s trying to get him to dance, but Stiles can’t tell from where he is. It’s a slow song, he realizes, and of course she would try to move in on his man (sort of his man?) during the 5 minutes he went to the bathroom.

By the time he reaches them, she’s already managed to drag Derek closer to the dance floor, and he can hear that Derek is making apologies to her, saying that he was waiting for Stiles, that Stiles would be right back and wouldn’t like it if he saw Derek dancing with her.

“You’re right, I wouldn’t,” Stiles says, striding up to Derek’s side, sliding his arm through Derek’s. Derek lets out an audible sigh, and gives Valerie a shrug of apology.

“I was only trying to get him to dance, try and have some fun,” Valerie interjects, defensive.

“Derek has plenty of fun with me, don’t you sweetie?” Stiles says looking up at Derek.

“All kinds of fun,” Derek answers, giving Stiles a lustful look, like he’s thinking about getting Stiles out of his suit and imagining all the ways they could have fun. It makes Stiles shiver.

Valerie groans. “Well have fun. It was… nice meeting you, Stiles. Derek.” She dismisses them both with a nod and walks off muttering.

Stiles holds back his chuckle and turns to face Derek, moves his arms up to wrap around Derek’s neck. Derek pulls him in close, rests his hands on Stiles’s hips and starts swaying with him to the music.

“I think she won’t bother me anymore. She muttered something about finding herself a human because werewolves were stupid.”

Grinning, Stiles says, “Good. She can’t have you. You’re mine, remember?”

He could feel Derek’s hands tighten on his hips at the words, but Derek bobs his head in answer.

Technically, he’s done his job; there’s no need to keep up the act, at least not to the level they had been. But if this is the only time he can do this with Derek, then he’s going to take advantage of the situation as much as he can.

He presses in close to Derek, barely any space between them, and rubs his nose, his mouth, along Derek’s jaw, his neck. He presses open-mouthed kisses there too, and Derek gasps but doesn’t stop him. He starts kissing his cheek, the corner of his mouth, and Derek turns his head to catch Stiles’s lips with his own.

They don’t even realize that the song has changed from slow to another fast song until a couple people bump into them because they’ve been too focused on each other, of the feel of their lips against one another, their tongues sliding against each other, their breaths mingling between them.

Derek clears his throat after they move off the dance floor, away from the gyrating mass of bodies. “Ready to go home?” Derek asks.

“Yup. You?”

“Yeah. I saw the people I needed to know, and definitely accomplished what I wanted thanks to you.”

Stiles grinned. “That’s because I’m awesome.”

“Ha ha. Yes, you are. Come on,” Derek says, taking Stiles’s hand in his to walk them out of the ballroom.

The drive back to Derek’s is relatively quiet, but it’s a comfortable quiet. The radio fills the silence between them. Stiles even dozes off a little on the drive, not realizing how late it is or how tired he is. Kissing Derek took a lot out of him.

It’s not long before Derek pulls up to Stiles’s apartment.

“Thanks for coming with me and… everything.”

“You are welcome. It was fun.”

Derek gives him a half-smile. “Yeah. It was.” His face falls a little after he says it, and Stiles isn’t sure how to interpret that.

“Hey, so next weekend, there’s this band that my classmates have been telling me about performing at this bar. Want to go with me?”

“Yeah. Just let me know when.”

“Sure thing. I’ll text you or something.” He’s stalling, he knows it, but it’s only because he kind of wants Derek to kiss him good night, and there’s no way that it’s happening. There’s no one to pretend for now.

“Okay. See you later?”

“Course. Night, Derek.” Stiles flings the door open because he has to get out now before he says or does something he’s going to regret.

“Good night, Stiles.”

Stiles gets out, waves goodbye when he gets into the building, and watches Derek wave back and drive off.

He spends the rest of the night replaying all of their interactions, every touch, every kiss, in his head as he’s in bed. He thinks of the way Derek’s lips felt against his, how warm Derek’s hands were on his hips, how good it felt to be that close to Derek. God, he has it so bad for Derek, and he doesn’t know what to do about it.

He can’t do anything about it. They’re friends, friends with sometimes pretend benefits. And he has no idea how to make those pretend benefits a reality.

Hopefully something will come about to make it happen. He just hopes it’ll happen sooner rather than later. He’s not sure how much longer he can go along pretending to be Derek’s boyfriend and vice versa in certain situations without it hurting because he wants it to be real. It already kind of hurts now.

Because tonight felt so natural, easy, almost real. And that’s what hurts the most. The almost.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi and fangirl with me on [my tumblr](http://literaryoblivion.tumblr.com) or [my twitter](http://twitter.com/lit_oblivion).


End file.
